延期 (yán qī) — to postpone; to extend (a deadline or period) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

延期 means to push back a deadline or agreed end date (a deadline, contract, visa). 推迟 focuses on moving an event; 拖延 carries a negative sense of stalling or procrastination.

verb

to postponeto extend (a deadline or period)

Examples

延期。
Tā shēn qǐng yán qī qiān zhèng.
He applied to extend his visa.
延期。
Bǐ sài yīn wèi tiān qì bù hǎo yán qī le.
The game was postponed because of bad weather.
延期。
Tā men bǎ jié zhǐ rì qī yán qī le yì zhōu.
They extended the deadline by one week.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

延yánextend/postpone

期qīperiod/deadline

延 (extend/postpone) applied to 期 (deadline/period) gives postpone or extend a deadline.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

彳彳chìwalking
止止zhǐfoot

The shape of 延 adds a top stroke to a form showing 彳 (walking) and 止 (foot), originally meaning to travel far, to show prolonging.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí期qī

Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6

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